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Vol. XXXI. 



OCT. 15, 1903. 



No. 20 



What is said on p. 850 about the scarci- 

 ty of water reminds me that all the water 

 at Grand Canj'on is brought in great tanks 

 on cars, and I was told that it was brought 

 from a distance of 150 miles 1 



C. P. Dadant has done me a great favor. 

 You know he has had only from 2 to 5 per 

 cent of swarming heretofore. Well, he re- 

 ports for this \'ear in Revue Internationale 

 "a perfect avalanche of swarming." Sol 

 don't feel so bad that my bees were so bent 

 on swarming. It was in the air. 



Othkks may think as the}' like, but so 

 well convinced am I that in this locality 

 bees sting black more than white that I 

 wear in summer white trousers, although 

 for the sake of looks I'd much prefer black. 

 [Perhaps you are right, but I have never 

 been able to see that the bees make very 

 much distinction except that they sought 

 out black spots. — Ed.] 



Unclk Sam, in order to keep the wheels 

 of government running, pays out each min- 

 ute of the 24 hours of each day S1270 75. 

 But as he collects during the same time 

 >1403.36, the old gentleman is able to salt 

 down in his stocking S132.61 every minute, 

 or Sl90,836 a day. If he isn't too extrava- 

 gant in other respects, he ought soon to 

 save up enough to buy him an automobile. 



In moving bkks that ten days" journey, 

 p. 847, wouldn't you advise water in some 

 form? [Yes, indeed, the bees ought to be 

 given water. In shipping bees bj' the car- 

 load it is a good practice and almost an ab- 

 solute necessity in hot weather to give them 

 water through the wire cloth, either b}' 

 means of wet sponges or by spraying or 

 sprinkling the wire cloth with a broom 

 sopped in water. — Ed.J 



Formic acid is still frequently spoken of 

 as the poison of the bee-sting. Nearly 20 

 years ago Cheshire wrote of the poison, 

 " Its active principle seems to be formic 

 acid, probably associated with some other 

 toxic agent," and Cowan speaks of it much 

 the same way. But latest investigations, 

 as formerly reported, I think, in Glean- 

 ings, show that the poison is something- 

 separate and distinct from formic acid. 

 Haven't time to look it up, but I think Dr. 

 Langer is the authority. 



A FRIEND asks, "Is good ripe extracted 

 honey harmful for a person to eat, if that 

 person is afflicted with liver, kidney, and 

 bladder trouble?" One might eat too 

 much bread, or too much of anything, and 

 one might eat too much honey. But used in 

 moderation I should expect no evil results 

 from eating ripe honey where sugar would 

 be put entirely under the ban. The mis- 

 chief in such diseases comes from the bur- 

 den of changing cane to grape sugar. The 

 change is already made in honey. 



What does M. W. Shepard mean, p. 841, 

 bv speaking of spacing '+ , yi, and Yz inch? 

 [What he meant, probably, was close and 

 wide spacing. But his figures do not mean 

 much unless we know the width of his top- 

 bars. A top bar IVs wide with '+ inch be- 

 tween the frames would give the regulation 

 l^s spacing, now almost universal. But 

 what J. E. Pond really advocated was 

 spacing IV from center to center — at least 

 not more than Iji. A few years ago the 

 spacing was 1^'s and 1>2 from center to cen- 

 ter. Now lyz is being gradually abandon- 

 ed, and \y?, is coming to be the regular 

 standard throughout all modern bee-appli- 

 ances. Close spacing results in the build- 

 ing of less drone comb and the storing of 

 less honey over the brood in a brood-frame. 

 After all, Vy^ is a verj' nice compromise be- 

 tween the wide and narrow extremes. — Ed.] 



When behs ball their own queen, don't 

 they generally do it to protect her? Often 

 I have had them ball their queen; and if I 

 Immediately close the hive and leave them 

 for some hours undisturbed, I do not expect 

 the queen to be any the worse for it; but if 



